Wedding crashers: Fans purchase gifts for Merritt

CLEVELAND — When one of Ryan Merritt’s teammates mentioned it late Wednesday night, the rookie pitcher assumed it was a joke. When text messages began arriving, buzzing the phones belonging to Merritt and his fiancee, they realized this was not a prank. Indians fans really had found their wedding registry.

After Merritt’s memorable performance in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series helped clinch a 3-0 win over the Blue Jays, securing a spot in the World Series for Cleveland, Tribe fans began showing their thanks in gift purchases. While the Indians are hoping for a World Series trophy, Merritt knows for sure that he will have plenty of pillows, towels and kitchen items.

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“They’re probably going to buy it before our friends get to it,” Merritt said with a laugh on Thursday. “Hopefully we don’t end up with like five Keurigs or something.”

Merritt’s fiancee, Sarah Brushaber, was at Rogers Centre for Wednesday’s victory. She spent the past few days in Toronto with Merritt, who was an emergency rotation replacement in the wake of a series of setbacks for the Tribe. Cleveland’s change in plans forced some adjustments in the wedding planning, too. The engagement photos and marital counseling sessions they had planned for this month have been put on hold.

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Among the earlier planning for their Jan. 27, 2017, wedding in Minnesota was some gift-picking at Target and Pottery Barn. In all, Ryan and Sarah scanned 65 items and posted the list online. At some point during Wednesday’s game, the link to their registry page made it to social media and, as Merritt was handcuffing Toronto’s lineup and helping the Tribe reach the World Series for the first time since 1997, word began spreading among Indians fans.

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